USS Steelhead

	(Image retouched by wartime censors to remove radar antennas atop periscope sheers.)
History
United States
Builder	Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine
Laid down	1 June 1942
Launched	11 September 1942
Commissioned	7 December 1942
Decommissioned	29 June 1946
Stricken	1 April 1960
Fate	Sold for scrap, 21 December 1960
General characteristics
Class and type	diesel-electric submarine
Displacement	1,525 tons (1,549 t) surfaced; 2,424 tons (2,460 t) submerged;
Length	311 ft 9 in (95.02 m)
Beam	27 ft 3 in (8.31 m)
Draft	17 ft 0 in (5.18 m) maximum
Propulsion	4 × electrical generators; 2 × 126- batteries; 4 × high-speed General Electric electric motors with reduction gears; two propellers; 5,400 shp (4.0 MW) surfaced; 2,740 shp (2.0 MW) submerged;
Speed	21 knots (39 km/h) surfaced; 9 knots (17 km/h) submerged;
Range	11,000 NM (20,000 km) surfaced at 10 knots (19 km/h)
Endurance	48 hours at 2 knots (3.7 km/h) submerged; 75 days on patrol;
Test depth	300 ft (90 m)
Complement	6 officers, 54 enlisted
Armament	10 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes; 6 forward, 4 aft; 24 torpedoes; 1 × 3-inch (76 mm) / 50 caliber deck gun; Bofors 40 mm and Oerlikon 20 mm cannon;

USS Steelhead (SS-280), a

Gato-class submarine, was a ship of the United States Navy named for the steelhead, a North American trout found from California to Alaska

.

Steelhead (SS-280) was laid down on 1 June 1942 by the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine; launched on 11 September 1942; sponsored by Mrs. Marguerite Brown; and commissioned on 7 December 1942.

First war patrol, April – June 1943

Steelhead held her shakedown off

Hokkaidō

. She fired no torpedoes, and the submarine returned to Midway in early June.

Second war patrol, June – August 1943

On her second patrol, 30 June to 6 August, Steelhead fired 10 torpedoes at a Japanese task force on 10 July. Explosions were heard, but specific damage could not be ascertained. After refitting at Pearl Harbor, the ship sailed on 13 September for the

Tarawa

during bombardment by Army aircraft.

She called at

Palau Islands. On 6 October off the Carolines, she damaged tanker Kazalhaya, which Tinosa (SS-283) sank later that day. All her torpedoes expended, Steelhead sighted a large convoy

which she trailed, while sending information to other submarines in the area.

Third, fourth, and fifth war patrols, December 1943 – August 1944

On her next patrol, Steelhead operated off

Bungo Suido

from late December 1943 to early March 1944. On 10 January 1944, she torpedoed and sank the 6,795 ton converted salvage vessel, Yamabiko Maru.

Her fourth patrol, off Formosa from early April to 23 May, provided no targets worthy of torpedo fire, but she sank a trawler by gunfire.

On 17 June, she sortied from Midway Island with Hammerhead (SS-364) and Parche (SS-384) to patrol south of Formosa. On 31 July, the submarine made three successful attacks in which one ship was damaged and two were sunk. Parche also sank two from the convoy. Upon concluding the patrol when she arrived at Pearl Harbor on 16 August, Steelhead was routed to the West Coast for a much needed overhaul.

For his services in that last patrol Whelchel, a grandson of

Lieutenant General James Longstreet, was awarded the Silver Star.^[7]

Sixth war patrol, April – August 1945

While in

drydock, on 1 October 1944 Steelhead suffered a serious fire which required the installation of a new conning tower. After a long repair period, the submarine stood out of San Francisco on 16 April 1945, en route to Pearl Harbor. Steelhead began her last war patrol on 13 May. She performed lifeguard duty in the Caroline Islands and later patrolled in the Tokyo Bay area. She made no torpedo

attacks but sank two trawlers by gunfire. The patrol ended at Midway Island on 5 August and, 20 days later, she sailed for the West Coast.

Steelhead arrived at San Francisco on 5 September 1945 and provided services for the West Coast Sonar School until 2 January 1946. She sailed to Pearl Harbor and operated from there until March when she steamed back to San Francisco for inactivation. The submarine was placed in reserve, out of commission, on 29 June 1946 and attached to the

Pacific Reserve Fleet. In May 1947, Steelhead was placed in service, in reserve, and used as a reserve training ship until struck from the Navy List

on 1 April 1960.

Steelhead received six

battle stars for World War II

service.